Pump



May 18,1926.

W. E. HUBBARD PUMP Filed Nov. -25

INVENTOR 5.

ML ATTO EYS.

i any is, ieee.

LINEE STATES W'LLAM E. EUBBARID, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALEFORNIA.

PUMP.

Application filed November 25, 1925.

This invention relates to pumps particularly tor use in deep well pumping;` and espcoially oil wells. Great ditliculty and ineliiciency have heretofore been experienced in oil well pumping, this being` caused by the gas contained within the oil as hereinalter described'.

Tells are ordinarily pumped by the common single acting pump.. ln this pump the Huid is drawn into the pump chamber between the two vali/es and oischarged from the pump on the same stroke, namely, the up stroke. In this action the fluid follows the running' or discharge valve and piston as they travel upwardly, such tluid being drawn through the standing or suction valve which is beneath the discharge valve. On the down stroke thestanding valve closes and the column of fluid remains stationary, the piston and discharge valve merely passing' through the liquid as they proceed downwardly. in pumping; liquids such oil, wherein is contained a considerable amount of gas, any gas entering the cylindrical chamber between the valves is very diiiicult to remove, this being due particularly to the compressibility ot gas and to the great liquid pressure head on the di.;- charpje valve, it being understood that the weight 01": the column of oil being` pumped from the bottom o1 the well to the surface is on this valve, this pressure at times being 2000 lbs. or over per square inch.

When a pump is in this condition it is generally said to be air bound, and the noise and banging which ensues is erroneously known as air hammering. The presence ot a gas in between two valves in any kind of a liquid pump reduces the volume which is discharged, and it great enough entirely stops the delivery of fluid for the following reason:

A. gas, having the qualities ot' compression and expansion, when drawn through the intake valve by the plunger or piston. oi the pump on its up stroke, lills the space between the intake and discharge valves. llVhen the piston on its down stroke causes the intake valve to close, the gas instead oi lifting the discharge valve is compressed but not sufliciently to overcome thev head on the discharge valve. Nothing is therefore discharged trom` the cylinder by theA piston or plunger and the intake valve cannot open on thereturn stroke because the pressure in the cylinder is' greater than the atmospheric Serial No. 71,328.

or liquid head beneath the intake valve.. rlhe piston or plunger then continues to reciprocate, compressing` and expanding the gas bet veen the two valves, without delivering any liquid.

This condition is overcome in air compres- Vsors by having the space swept through by the piston reduced to the smallest possible amount. This and other means may be employed where the pump is accessible. ln deep well pumps however it is impossible to work to close clearances due particularly to the long pump rods which at each stroke have considerable lost motion due to the stretch ot the rods. rlh'eretore, when gas gets into these pumps, the pumps deliver intermittently. Sometimes the pump operates idly vfor hours without delivering any liquid until leakage of gas therefrom linally permits another intermittent pumping liquid. The pump may then run well :tor a short 'period until the gas pressure has again built up therein, when the idle running process will be repeated. lt is obvious that the production ot' oil couldr be greatly increased by providing' means tor riddinp; the pump ot this gas at each stroke of the plunger. it is the primary object ot my invention to provide a pump having such means.

In the accompanying drawing l have illustrated one speciiic embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that the drawing' is not to be construed as definingl or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims appended to this specification being,` relied upon for that purpose.

Referring to the figures of the drawing:

Figure 1 isa longitudinal section view through the plunger of my improved pump.

Fioure 2 is a side elevation ot' the pump within the pump cylinder.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a detail.

Figures is a cross sectional View taken on line IVLV of Figs. l and 2.

In the drawings, l indicates a pump cylinder attached to the lower end ot the tubing in a deep well. Abell check valve 2 is provided at the. bottoni et the; cylinder, this being the intake valve of the pump.. indi- Cates the lower end ot the pump rods attachedto the. pump. plunger 4. The portion 5 of the Vplunger has oil deliveringr` holes- 6 therethrough and. is eonnecred. to the lower portion?" by a bushing S. rvallve chamber 9 is provided within the bushing 8 and a ball 1() on a seat 11 provides a check valve which is the discharge valve of the pump.

The member T comprises an upper annular end and a lower portion 12 connected by three bars 13, the lower portion providingl a fluid pressure chamber receiving a piston 1-1 therein. The lower end of the chamber is closed by a screw threaded member 15. The piston 1-1 extends upwardly and the upper portion thereof comprises three vanes 16 directly beneath the ball 10. rllhe lower end of the piston chamber is constructed to form a vfluid pressuie chamber 17 beneath the bottom of Vthe piston. Fluid pressure is supplied from the chamber 9 to the chan'ibcr 1T for raising` the piston 11 and ball 10 in the following manner.

The valve seat rin 11 is made reversible, each face thereof bei provided with an annular `groove 1S therein, the grooves being connected by severa-l holes 1S). A duct 20 through one of the bars 1S and a duct 21 provides a by-pass to the chamber 17, several fine screens being provided at 22 to prevent sand and grit from entering;` the bypass. t will be understooc` that the oil or liquid pressure in the chamber 9 is very great and I therefore provide a steel plate 23 in the by-pass with a fine hole therethrough to limit the flow of oil to an amount necessary to operate the piston 111.

lThe chamber 17 has a central outlet port 2-1. This port is opened and closed by the point of a needle valve stem 25. This stem is slidably mounted within a central cylinn drical bore in a connecting men'iber 2S, spacing vanes 27 being provided on the stem to space the same froml the walls of the bore to permit oil to drain downwardly therethrough as it flows from the outlet port 24.

A member 2S rests on an annular shoulder 29 on the bottom of' the member 26, the member 28 comprising?,` annular upper and lower ends connected by three bars 30. Two semi- Cylindrical friction plates 31 are normally held outward by a spring 32 into frictional engagement with the walls of the cylinder 1. A compression spring 33 surrounds the valve stem 25 with its ends engaging against the vanes 2'? and on a plate. 3s. resting on shoulders 35. A. brass abutment plug 36 is provided above the ball 10 in the chamber i) to take any upward thrust of the ball to prevent battering thereof.

The check valve 2 is seat-ed on a tapered block 37 within a cage 38 having` a rod 39 extending upwardly therefrom. The block can be removed when desired by engaging the rod 39 and can be seated in place through such rod.

The operation of my improved pump is substantially as follows.

lVith the parts in the position illustrated, the rods 3, and plunger t on the up stroke as indicated by the arrows. The friction plates 31 dragging on the cylinder 1, separate the member 28 from the member 15 as illustrated. This movement releases the compression on the spring 33 whereupon the oil pressure in the chamber 17 forces the valve stem 25 downwardly in a manner perinitting oil to flow outwardly through the port 2st. It will be understood that this pressure of oil is very great and acts very quickly to compress the spring;` when the compression of the plate. 31 thereon is released. Therefore, upon the upward movement of the plunger, the open port 2li relieves the oil pressure in the chamber 17 and the piston llremains in its downward position, leaving the ball 10 seated. A spring -10 is preferably provided for aiding in keeping' the piston in its downward position. A. charge of oil is therefore drawn through the valve 2 .into the cylinder beneath the valve 10.

WT hen the plunger reaches the end of its up stroke and starts downwardly, the friction plates 31 cause the member 28 to contact with the member 15. The plate 34- being' supported by the member 28, thereupon coinpresses the spring 33 and forces the stein valve 25 into the port 21. The design of this spring is such as to allow the other and stronger parts of the mechanism to come into contact after the spring; has closed the needle valve. rPhe spring' therefore protects the. needle valve from injury such as would talqe place if' the same were closed positively. The port 24E being,- thus closed, a pressure is immediately formed in the chamber 17 and since the bottom area of the piston 1/1. is greater than the downward fluid pressure area on the ball 10, the piston is immediately moved upwardly and raises the ball, this taking' place substantially at the beginningl of the downward movement of the plunger.

lt is obvious that any gas which has collected in the cylinder beneath the ball 10 will be on top of the oil therein and that such gas will immediately be forced upwardly past the valve 10. rlhus the valve 10 is positively opened at the beginningr of each downward strolre of the plunger in a manner removing any gas between the two valves.

It will be understood that the flow of oil through the by-pass 2O is limited by the fine opening through the steel plate 23 and that the screens 22 prevent any fine sand or grit entering the by-pass 20 and stopping up this fine hole.

The spring 33 prevents injury to the point of the valve stem 25 and the port 2-1, should the stein accidentally contact against the rod 89. It, may be mentioned that the spring 33 would also serve as a shook absorber when seating the valve block 37 by means the plungerxif such Seating Iis de- Sired, the sprine` at such time preventing injury of the point ot the valve stem 25 by preventing the positive banging ot' the same into the port 24e.

It will therelore be seen that my invention positively eliminates the collecting oi' gas in the pump cylinder and assures that in the pumping operation the greatest eliieieney will be secured by pumping a full Cylinder of oil at eaeh pump stroke.

Having thus described my invention, what I elaim is:

l. In a pump, the combination of a cylinder, a cheek valve therein, a plunger in the cylinder above the cheek valve, a cheek valve carried by the plunger, and means whereby the fluid pressure above the plunger cheek valve operates to raise sueh valve on the downward movement or the plunger.

2. In a pump, the Combination of a cylinder, a eheel valve therein, a plunger in the cylinder above the cheek va ve, a cheek valve Carried by the plunger, a piston belen7 the plunger cheek valve, and means including a by-pass from the plunger chamber above the plunger cheek valve to the piston t'or moving the piston in a manner to raise the plunger cheek valve on the downward movenient of the plunger.

3. In a pump, the combination ot' a Cylinder, a cheek valve therein, a plunger in the cylinder' above the cheek valve, a cheek valve carried by the plunger, a piston below the plunger Cheek valve and cooperating with a piston chamber, means providing a by-pass 'from the plunger chamber above the plunger cheek valve to the piston Chamber, the piston chamber having an outlet port, and means automatically closing sueh port on the downward movement of the plunger, whereupon luid pressure within the piston chamber operates the piston to raise the plunger cheek valve.

4. In a pump, the Combination et a cylinder, a cheek valve therein, a plunger in the cylinder above the check valve, a cheek valve carried by the plunger, a Huid pressure chamber beneath the plunger cheek valve, means providing a by-pass from the plunger chamber above the plunger Cheek valve to vthe Huid pressure chamber, the fluid pressure chamber having an outlet port, and means operatedL by a trietional engagement against the cylinder for automatically closing such port on the downward movement of the plunger, whereupon fluid pressure within the liuid pressure chamber operates to raise the plunger cheek valve.

5. In a pump, the combination of a cylinder, a Cheek valve therein, a plunger in the eylinder above the cheek valve, a cheek valve carried by the plunger, a piston below the plunger Cheek valve and cooperating with a piston chamber, means providing a bypass 'from the plunger chamber above the plunger cheek valve to the piston ehanber, the piston'ehamber having an outlet port, a needle valve member Cooperating with the port, and a member having frietional engagement with the Cylinder and having an axial lost motion connection with the plunger, the arrangement being suoli that when the plunger is moving upwardly the port is open to permit flow et fluid therefrom, and when the plunger starts downwardly the lrietional engagement moves the needle to close the port, whereupon pressure immediately builds up in the piston chamber and raises the piston and plunger Cheek valve.

IVILLIAM E. HUBBARD. 

